East-west blend on sitar
Pradeep has much pride in having been backed in the past by the
prestigious Amsterdam Chamber Orchestra, and accompanists of the calibre
of American pianist Freddie Ravel, saxophonist Eric Marienthal, bass
guitarist Jiffrey Hussein, world renowned German cellist Ramon Jaffe and
international award winning French guitarist Thibault Cauvin.
In May 2010 Pradeep’s work for sitar, cello and orchestra, premiered
with the Neubrandenburg Orchestra in Germany, where the standing ovation
at the end testified to its beauty and brilliance.
Dr. Ranjith HETTIARACHCHI
Melbourne’s music lovers are poised for a most stimulating feast of
oriental music when Sri Lanka’s internationally renowned celebrity
sitarist Pradeep Ratnayake presents the Pradeepanjalee Concert on
September 5, Fathers’ Day, at the Besen Centre Auditorium in Burwood.
Sitar virtuoso Pradeep hails from the prestigious Visva Bharati
University, Shanti Niketan, India.
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Pradeep Ratnayake |
Recently he won a Fulbright Scholarship to Columbia University, New
York. He is certain to mesmerize the Melbourne audience with an
exhilarating exposition of Sitar music, backed by an orchestra comprised
of leading Sri Lankan, South Indian and Western musicians.
Blessed mastery
Blessed with the mastery in Sitar play, he is highly acclaimed all
around the world, including many Indian music lovers. In the first ever
East-West Orchestral blend in Melbourne, Pradeep will produce music of
an exotic musical harmony, engendering a fusion of cross-cultural
auditory delights rarely seen in Australia.
With most successful concerts in the United States at the Walt Disney
Concert Hall, the Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Centre and with similar
performances in Canada, Geneva, Vienna (Musikverein), Berlin, Bangkok,
Abu Dhabi, Bombay and Colombo, often accompanied by Western musicians of
the highest repute, Pradeep’s Melbourne Concert has already aroused
widespread interest in the musically accomplished circles.
Australia’s premier Jazz pianist Joe Chindamo, young versatile
drummer Daniel Farrugia, accomplished Seraphim Trio Violinist and
Cellist Helen Ayers will add much depth and colour to the absorbing
music that would emanate from Pradeep’s sitar.
The Sri Lankan and Indian accompanists will provide traditional
orchestral back up to his sitar with the Tabla, Oriental Drum and the
Karnatic Mridangam and Gatam.
Noteworthy performances
Pradeep’s past performances have been applauded by many noteworthy
personalities around the world. The US-Sri Lanka Fulbright Commission
Chairman states: “His marvelous virtuosity in the sitar combines with
his wonderful openness to blend his music with western harmonies, made
for a serene evening.”
The US Ambassador to Sri Lanka Jeffrey Lunstead said: “I was
delighted by his ability to fuse Eastern music and rhythms harmoniously,
with Western Jazz rhythms and tempos.”
The US-Sri Lanka Fulbright Commission Executive Director Tissa
Jayatilaka stated that the sitar has become a magic wand in his hands.
The Indian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Nirupam Sen presages one day
Pradeep would be the Ravi Shankar of Sri Lanka.
The Associate Professor of Music at George Washington University of
Music Malinee Jayasinghe-Peries, at a review of his concert at the
Kennedy Centre states: “Pradeep Ratnayake plays music that has no bounds
of country or culture i.e. music which is truly an international
language.”
Health awareness
The Pradeepanjalee Concert is presented in Melbourne by the Sri
Lanka-Australia Charitable Health Fund that pioneered the introduction
of Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) and Emergency Ambulance services
in Sri Lanka. Sri Lankans in Sri Lanka and elsewhere in the world, have
gained notoriety for their very high coronary heart disease incidence
and more importantly their high ‘drop dead’ rates. |
